Its one thing to read St. Paul's letters and it is totally different to see their theological fabric. Balthasar weaves his discussion on the contemplation of the cross and resurrection with words from St. Paul's various letters. In so doing he brings new dimensions to St. Paul's letters and new insights into our participation in the mystery of the cross.
More from the last chapter of Prayer:
It could be said that the center of Paul’s entire theology is
the fact that the balance of the old and the new aeon, the first and second
Adam, cross and resurrection, fear and hope, has been tipped in favor of the resurrection.
Moreover, the first of each of these pairs is embraced by the second; the cross
in the Christian life is borne by the power of the resurrection: “We are
afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in
the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested
in our bodies …. So we do not lose heart. (2 Cor.4:8-10, 16-18)
…. Thus Paul always speaks of his own sufferings … as a
demonstration of the power of the Risen Lord, never as being in competition
with the Lord’s passion. …. Thus the servant has no reason for boasting; he
only does his duty (1 Cor. 9:16) in allowing the Father to reveal his Son in
him (Gal. 1:16). All this “bearing death in the body” is the result of a
contemplation of the resurrection in which we are assimilated more and more efficaciously
to the glory of the Son, who transforms the beholder into himself: “We all with
unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his
likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who
is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18) pp. 296-7
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